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Bertha’s Swell Makes For A Fun Ocean City Surf Contest

OCEAN CITY –
The Malibu’s Classic ESA surf contest, sponsored by Malibu’s
Surf Shop on 8th Street,
ran for its 14th year last weekend in great waves, compliments of Hurricane
Bertha situated just below Bermuda.

This was the third
Eastern Surfing Association event for the Delmarva district this year, and co
directors Chris Vaxmonsky and Chris Makibbin were thrilled to have yet another
contest run with great waves and great conditions.

Over 225 competitors
from Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Delaware, Virginia
and Florida
duked it out in some serious swell. While the classic waves kept the action in
the water hot, Malibu’s
owner Lee Gerachis kept the contestants pumped up with the bands Lower Class
Citizens and The Bends jamming on the front porch of his shop and hot dogs and
hamburgers on the grill.

With plenty of power and
wave size to work with, contestants were able to pull out all the stops and put
on a real show for the hundreds of spectators lining the beach. But for many of
the groms in the contest that day, the real prize were the waves themselves.

Speaking of groms, Malibu’s Super Grom
division for boys and girls needing a little more assistance was a big hit
again this year. Especially considering the size of some of the set waves, it
was comforting to have parents helping out a bit. Parker Marshall of Pocomoke
took top place in the Super Grom Body Board and Jack Fager of Bishopville won
the Super Grom Short Board division.

However, when the big
boys and girls took to the water the fireworks really started. With barrels the
order of the day and the occasional reverb in the waves, the surfing was almost
as exciting to watch as it was to participate. A highlight of the contest was
the aerial mastery of ESA All Star Vince Boulanger, who dominated the Men’s
Shortboard division and almost pulled off one of the only Gorkin Flips seen in
a local contest. In the highly contested Open Shortboard Division, Ian
Tilghman, home from college on summer break comboed a sweet barrel and a
floater in the final seconds to take first place.

Longboards were
especially challenging when the backwash met changing tidal conditions. There
were more than a few horrific wipeouts. But in the Men’s Division, big Ted
Smith showed them how it was done as he deftly negotiated the challenging waves
on his nine-footer to take first place.